Draft:Isaac Asimov's Robot City
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| Isaac Asimov's Robot City
| |
| Author | Various |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Paul Rivoche |
| Cover artist | Paul Rivoche |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Science fiction |
| Publisher | Bryon Preiss Visual Publications |
| Published | 1987-1990, 1993–1994 |
| Media type | Print (Paperback) |
| No. of books | 18 |
Isaac Asimov's Robot City is a series of science fiction novels written by various authors beginning in 1987, and is loosely connected to Isaac Asimov's Robot series. Chronologically, it takes place between the novels The Robots of Dawn and Robots and Empire. Each volume is complete in itself, but form a continuing series. The concept for the novels began as a collaboration of Asimov and writer/editor/publisher Byron Preiss, with Asimov acting as a technical consultant.[1] Byron & Asimov then issued a writing challenge to write a series involving the Three Laws of Robotics, which brought about a collaboration of several authors. Asimov provided outlines for stories which filled in the gap between Asimov's own robot stories and his Foundation series, explaining the disappearance of the robots prior to the establishment of the Galactic Empire.[2] The end of each book includes a "Data Bank", which features illustrations by Paul Rivoche and paired descriptions, providing further information about characters, objects and locations from the stories.
Isaac Asimov's Robots and Aliens followed in this series, with the same protagonists and many other characters. A third series, Isaac Asimov's Robots in Time, was also created. The common theme of all books of the series is the interaction between the characters and autonomous cities run and populated by robots (the "robot cities" of the series title).
A video game adaptation, Robot City, was also released for PCs in 1995. The player takes the role of Derec exploring Robot City in a first-person perspective.
Plot summary & themes
[edit]The Robot City novels revolve around a man who has no memory of who he was, but believes he might be called Derec after a name-badge he is wearing. Derec journeys to Robot City, a city of robots, with a handful of transient humans. There, Derec meets another mysterious person calling herself Katherine, whose real name turns out to be Ariel, and together the two disprove their role in the apparent murder of a human whose identity is not known by the robots. Fleeing an increasingly dangerous Robot City, Derec and Ariel journey to Earth to find the city's creator, the insane Dr. Avery and learn their true identities. As the series goes on, both Ariel and Derec are repeatedly asked to confront more questions as old ones are answered, all of which, no matter how broad, always seem to connect with Robot City.
The series makes much use of the Three Laws of Robotics and their interpretations and interactions when dealing with obscure scenarios, such as levels or priority in conflicting orders, a human brain in a robot body, and do the laws apply to non-human, but sentient beings. It also addresses, in passing, differences in interpretation of the First Law, namely, the difference between physical harm and psychological harm.
Novels
[edit]- Odyssey by Michael P. Kube-McDowell (1987) ISBN 0-441-73122-8
- Suspicion by Mike McQuay (1987) ISBN 0-441-73126-0
- Cyborg by William F. Wu (1987) ISBN 0-441-37383-6
- Prodigy by Arthur Byron Cover (1988) ISBN 0-441-37384-4
- Refuge by Rob Chilson (1988) ISBN 0-441-37385-2
- Perihelion by William F. Wu (1988) ISBN 0-441-37388-7
Perihelion ends with a promise to "continue with Robot City #7", which refers to Changeling, the first volume of Robots and Aliens.
References
[edit]- ^ "SciFi master in new book lines". Record-Journal. August 31, 1986. p. 34.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Robert Latham (1988), Science fiction & fantasy book review annual, Meckler, ISBN 978-0-88736-249-1
External links
[edit]- Issac Asimov's Robot City series listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
{{Robot City}}